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Remembering Jimmy Mac: Memorial sports scholarship gets a boost this Friday with help from Huxdotters

James Michael McKiernan, in his senior portrait; The sports scholarship in his memory will help other athletes with heart.

— image credit: Courtesy photo

James Michael McKiernan loved his team.

As a teenager, ‘Jimmy Mac’ had to hustle to make the varsity football squad his senior year. But this member of the Mount Si class of 2006, son of Jim and Karen McKiernan, worked hard and became the heart of his team in ways his ex-teammates still remember.

A college graduate, with a promising job as a seed broker in Eastern Washington, the young McKiernan’s life ended in a tragic highway accident in 2011.

But his potential lives on in the scholarship fund that will soon give promising Mount Si athletes a leg up.

The James McKiernan Memorial Scholarship for athletes at Mount Si High School will get a boost this week as Huxdotter’s Coffee in North Bend holds its second annual fundraiser for the fund.

The event, which raised more than $2,500 last year, will be Friday, April 5, with all tips and donations going toward the scholarship fund. All proceeds from a special “Jimmy Mac” Red Bull Italian Soda will also be donated to the fund.

Friday would have been James’ 25th birthday.

In an e-mail, James' father, Jim, said his son would be "be surprised that anyone would make a big deal out of his accomplishments or impact on people. He was kind of a quiet kid who didn't like the spotlight...

"He would be the first to put something like this together for any one of his close friends if the roles were reversed," Jim added.

Mount Si sports were a huge part of shaping the motivated, compassionate person he became and for that reason, the McKiernan family has set up the memorial fund through the Mount Si Booster club. The fund, totalling about $9,000, is used to supplement the cost of participation for gear, clothing or other equipment that a young athlete may not be able to afford.

Huxdotter Coffee is located at 101 W Park St in North Bend. Hours of operation for the fundraiser are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Donations can be made to the James McKiernan Memorial Scholarship Fund, care of Mount Si High School, 8651 Meadowbrook Way S.E., Snoqualmie, WA 98065.

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